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Ethereum

DeFi will replace a lot of traditional finance services: Interview with Balancer

Balancer was a pioneer in the DeFi space, and is a key building block of the infrastructure. This protocol allows efficient trading by pooling crowdsourced liquidity and identifying the best price.

Data shows the platform’s growth in terms of total value over the past year.

balancer_chart
Balancer Chart. Source: Token Terminal

Before the most recent market-wide slump, which took place in May, Balancer had peaked at over $360 billion in TVL, a 450% increase in just 5 months, since January 2021.

This was also due to a massively increased user participation within the broader DeFi market , where many protocols saw a surge of their user base and other metrics.

During Bitcoin 2021 in Miami, CryptoPotato had the chance to speak with Jeremy Musighi – the Head of Growth at Balancer. We talked about the past, present and future of DeFi, Balancer, as also other important topics for this industry.

2021 Bull Run: Bitcoin Has Always Led the Crypto Markets

DeFi saw massive growth in 2021. At one point, the total value locked in various protocols across the industry peaked at over $80 billion – up 4 times from January alone.

We asked Musighi if he believes the bull market overall was the main reason for it or if it was an organic transition.

“I think that markets recognize how impactful DeFi is going to be and that it’s here to stay and I think it brought further awareness and education about how DeFi is prime to replace a lot of traditional financial services and products that we have.”

Musighi believes that the above is part and parcel of the reason for the bull. Musighi recognizes that it is a cycle.

“Investors recognize the opportunity here (in DeFi) and pour a lot of capital into it because they know how much it’s going to grow. This is what drives the bull market.

At the same time, the bull market and prices increase, bringing in more attention from other outsiders and other people who have not been involved and they get involved as well.”

He believes that Bitcoin has always been the leader in crypto markets, and that investors have a tendency to move their investments from one vertical to another .”

Balancer’s chief of growth also stated that “Bitcoin still serves as the primary reserve asset for crypto .”

balancer_cover
Jeremy Musighi, Balancer’s Head of Growth

Balancer: ‘The Most Customizable AMM’

Another thing that we were curious about is the reason for which Balancer lags behind other protocols such as Uniswap in terms of TVL.

Musighi explained to us that there are many factors that affect a product’s market fit and traction for DeFi protocols.

“One thing that’s clear about Balancer is that it has some of the best tech in the space and it’s also the most flexible and customizable Automated Market Maker (AMM) that there is. Balancer is DeFi-primitive in that it’s so flexible that it can be used in so many ways that it’s almost like a general purpose technology.”

But there’s a side to this – marketing. Although the protocol was founded in a short time ago, it has been managed almost entirely by “brilliant technical talent” but Balancer didn’t have many marketing people. “In fact, for a long period, we didn’t have any .”

.”

This is where the project still has room for growth and where the team is focusing their attention right now. Musighi says that this is one of the key factors to helping Balancer grow.

But there’s more: Musighi stated that Balancer Labs as well as the community had learned a lot by Balancer V1 being “in the wild growing as much as .”

.”

According to him, this has resulted in the successful release V2, which makes major improvements in areas like gas efficiency and UX. It also includes features that solve key market needs and stands out as an ideal solution.

He also mentioned that the transition from Balancer V1 into V2 was being done slowly and will take 6-8 weeks.

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) or Ethereum

Many decentralized AMMs, such as Balancer, and their greatest rivals Uniswap or Sushiswap, are heavily dependent on the blockchain on which they were built.

Ethereum was the most popular, but it was experiencing network congestion. This caused fees to skyrocket, and transactions to slow down. Ethereum 2.0 is a proposed solution currently in development. This will allow for the possible transition from a PoW-based consensus algorithm into a PoS one.

“I’m very optimistic about it – it’s really important. We are confident that Ethereum 2.0 will succeed. In the meantime, we always want to cater to the best interests of our users right now, not only in the future.”

Musighi stated that there are many scaling options, including layer two solutions, Ethereum sidechains and other layer ones, as well as adopting cross-chain compatible strategies. It’s also worth noting that Balancer has also launched on Polygon (a layer two solution) in aims of reducing the high gas fees.

“Those are the things that we’re thinking deeply about right now and very thoughtfully because we want to understand where we feel the future might go and how we can cater to the needs of the market in the best way possible.”

Elsewhere, we also discussed one of the hottest trends of 2021 – Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Musighi does not see it as an alternative to Ethereum. Rather, he believes that it has helped reduce Ethereum’s congestion by offloading transaction volume from the main blockchain .”

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He stated that the future and long-term would favor “the most transparent and decentralized solutions.” This is why other centralized blockchains cannot compete with the larger picture.

“If they did, they would see a massive migration of users, projects, liquidity, and volume off of Ethereum that hasn’t been happening. And that should tell you that even with its flaws and even with the areas that it needs to grow, it’s still offering so much value.”

A Crunch for Talent in DeFi

Jeremy believes DeFi is the future in finance.

“I think there’s less and less doubt about that idea in society in general today, which is of course, one of the reasons why we’ve been seeing these big bull runs.”

When asked about his biggest challenge, he stated that “bringing in different diversifications of talent into industry, making DeFi products better holistically accessible and more holistically sound .”

“I think one of the challenges that DeFi faces today is that there’s a crunch for talent because there are not enough people out there who are deeply familiar with crypto, but also have non-technical skills or even technical skills, all skills, from engineering to design, to marketing and branding and so on.”

He also spoke about the competition between DeFi (central finance) and CeFi (“centralized finance”), admitting that CeFi has “a lot of customers – they own those customer relations.” Another aspect is the front-end touch-point with digital financial service users.

This presents a tremendous opportunity for DeFi protocol, which can seamlessly integrate in the back-end because they clearly have technical advantages, but “the disadvantages of user experience design and user acquisition and mass market acceptance .”

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Ethereum

Top Ethereum (ETH) Price Predictions as of Late

TL;DR

  • Analysts and traders on X believe Ethereum could extend its recent gains, citing technical patterns and growing network activity as signs of an upcoming rally.
  • Despite optimism, Ethereum’s rising RSI, positive exchange netflows, and weak ETF inflows hint at mounting short-term selling pressure and hesitation from investors.

What Does the Future Hold?

Ethereum (ETH) has witnessed evident progress in the past week, with its price rising by roughly 10%. It briefly surpassed $1,800 on April 23 before retracing to the current $1,750.


ETH Price
ETH Price, Source: CoinGecko

Some market observers think the asset has yet to unleash its full potential, envisioning high targets for the near future. The X user Ted noted Ethereum’s active addresses have increased by 10% in the span of 48 hours. Having that said, he assumed that ETH could be gearing up for an “epic revenge rally.”

The crypto trader, using the X moniker Christiaan, also weighed in. He explored the recent price fluctuations of the asset to suggest that the price may soon soar beyond $2,000. 

Gert van Lagen is among the biggest optimists. The technical analyst claimed that “a huge 4-year inverse head and should” is in play, meaning that the next move could be a gigantic surge to a new peak of approximately $20,000. 

“Loads of retail have been shaken out the Right Shoulder,” he added.

Exploring Some Indicators

Contrary to the bullish predictions mentioned above, certain metrics signal that the second-largest cryptocurrency might be poised for a pullback.

ETH’s exchange netflow, for instance, has been positive in the past month. This reflects a shift toward centralized trading platforms, which can result in increased selling activity in the short term.

We’re moving on to the recent net inflows into spot ETH ETFs. Data compiled by SoSoValue shows that the figure has rarely been above zero in the last couple of weeks. A substantial green candle was observed on April 22, but on many other occasions, the inflows were negative. In simpler words, this means more money was withdrawn from the ETFs than added, signaling uncertainty among institutional investors. 

Lastly, let’s examine ETH’s Relative Strength Index (RSI). The metric measures the speed and magnitude of the latest price changes and helps traders assess point reversals. A ratio above 70 is considered bearish, suggesting ETH has entered overbought territory and could be headed for a correction. Earlier today (April 24), the RSI was hovering above that zone, currently set at around 65.

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Ethereum

Ethereum’s Network Activity Heats Up with a 10% Increase in Active Addresses

After a worrying start to the month, Ethereum finally showed signs of recovery as April progressed. The altcoin climbed to nearly $1,830 a few days ago before facing a small correction.

In the backdrop of this uptrend, the Ethereum network fundamentals appear to be heating up.

Active Addresses Surge

CryptoQuant’s latest analysis stated that Ethereum’s active addresses increased from 306,211 to 336,366 within just two days, an almost 10% jump. This surge, coupled with a rise in the price of Ether, indicated heightened network activity and growing interest in the blockchain.

This recent uptick is seen as a positive indicator for Ethereum, especially given its role as the foundation for many major blockchain projects. With Ether being a cornerstone of the broader altcoin ecosystem, any significant price movement in ETH is likely to influence the entire market.

As Ethereum continues to grow, the momentum may spark further growth across decentralized applications and projects built on the network.

“Final thought: Since Ether is the most important token in the Altcoin ecosystem, what would happen if its price explodes? The answer: very likely, the entire ecosystem would move with it.”

Institutional Offloading of Ethereum

With regards to Ethereum’s cost basis distribution, there is a significant concentration of supply around the price level of $1,895, where approximately 1.64 million ETH is held. This concentration indicates a key overhead resistance point, as many holders at this price level were last active in November 2024, during the crypto asset’s rally.

At that time, these investors purchased ETH, driving their cost basis higher. This suggests that as ETH approached this price range earlier this week, it faced selling pressure from these holders who sought to break even or secure profits.

As selling pressure mounts around this price level, it coincides with a broader trend of institutional offloading. For instance, Galaxy Digital transferred 65,600 ETH, worth $105.5 million, to Binance, which was a noticeable decline in its Ether holdings from about 98,000 ETH in February to 68,000 ETH, as tracked by Arkham.

Ethereum funds also faced significant outflows. Meanwhile, CoinShares reported $26.7 million in outflows last week, which pushed the total outflows to $772 million over the last two months. Despite these outflows, the altcoin has seen positive net inflows of $215 million year-to-date.

Galaxy Digital is not the only entity that has cut its Ether position. In fact, Paradigm has also reduced its exposure, as it transferred 5,500 ETH ($8.66 million) to Anchorage Digital on April 22nd.

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Ethereum

Ethereum Price Analysis: Is ETH Breaking Free From Bearish Patterns?

Ethereum has started the week with a strong push from support levels, catching short sellers off guard and sparking a fresh round of bullish momentum.

The recent breakout is showing signs of strength, but key resistance levels still lie ahead.

Technical Analysis

By Edris Derakhshi

The Daily Chart

ETH’s daily structure remains bearish overall, with prices still trading well below the 200-day moving average, which is located around the $2,800 mark. However, buyers have stepped in at the critical $1,550–$1,600 support zone, leading to a clean rebound toward the $1,800 level.

This marks a short-term break in the bearish sequence, and if buyers manage to hold this momentum, the next hurdle sits around $1,950–$2,000. A potential breakout above this level will show if this recovery is serious or not.

The 4-Hour Chart

On the 4H chart, ETH broke out of a clear ascending triangle pattern, confirming a bullish breakout above the $1,700 mark. This structure had been forming for the last couple of weeks, and the breakout occurred on strong bullish candles, adding confidence to the move.

The asset quickly extended toward $1,800 after clearing the higher boundary of the pattern. The immediate resistance zone is now between $1,800 and $1,950, where past breakdowns have occurred. If ETH holds above $1,700, any dip may act as a retest and offer long opportunities, but failure to maintain above this level could trap late longs.

Sentiment Analysis

By Edris Derakhshi (TradingRage)

Taker Buy Sell Ratio

The Coinbase Premium Gap has flipped positive for the first time in weeks, indicating renewed buying interest from U.S.-based institutions. This shift is a subtle but encouraging signal that spot demand is returning. Moreover, the pattern of smaller red bars and the latest green bar spike on the chart shows reduced sell pressure, which aligns with the price rebound.

If this trend continues, it may support higher prices in the near term. However, a sustained premium will be needed to validate institutional interest and support further upside momentum.

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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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